AN ailing, endangered fin whale has been found washed ashore in a coastal enclave of New York City that was hard hit by Superstorm Sandy.

Emergency workers and marine biologists responded to a report of an 18-metre fin whale that was stranded on the bay side of the Rockaways, Queens.

"I haven't seen a whale like this in Breezy since I was a kid," said Joan Washington, who has been a resident of Breezy Point for the past thirty years, told the New York Post.

"We started seeing wildlife like this again last summer. We see dolphins and sharks on the ocean side but not in the bay."

Biologist Mendy Garron says it's unclear what caused the whale to beach itself, but its chances of survival appear slim as it "looks very compromised''.

Beached WhaleSource:AP

“Based on the body condition [of the whale], it’s likely not to survive,” says Ms Gerron, a mammal-stranding response coordinator with the National Marine Fisheries Service, told The Wall Street Journal.

If the whale is still on the beach and alive tomorrow morning euthanasia is "something we could consider to be humane," Ms. Gerron said.

Ms Garron says biologists are waiting for the tides to subside to determine what to do next.